CUBA: Fidel & the U.S. Negro

Of the numerous shortcomings of the U.S. that rouse the concern of Fidel Castro, one of the most worrisome is the plight of the U.S. Negro. As he sees it, the best way to end discrimination would be for Negroes to rise in arms against the imperialists in Washington, taking their cue from Castro's own revolt. "What would happen," he asks, his eyes alight at the possibility, "if the Negroes in the Southern U.S., so often lynched, were each given a rifle?"

Short of that Draconian solution, Castro is doing what he can for the U.S. Negro. He hired Harlem's...